Which came first?

There is always the chicken and egg syndrome.  But that's really how I feel today.  At today's treatment, I had my bi-weekly appointment with the specialist, and met the new Physicians Assistant.  I forgot her name as soon as she told me - one of the drawbacks of Lyme, I can't remember anything anymore!  Anyway, the PA must have gone through my records pretty thoroughly, which is always nice.  She was checking me for my current sore throat, ear pain and swollen glands.  All of that started yesterday, and it's hard to imagine it could be a bacterial infection considering the amount of antibiotics I'm on.  During this time we were chatting about my fevers.  She asked if I kept my ovaries when I had the hysterectomy (yep, she was well prepared!), just to make sure that the fevers were related to the Lyme treatment and not hormonal.

She also was asking me about Fibromyalgia.  I told her I don't think that was the correct diagnosis.  She agreed, and pointed out that while we were talking she had been pressing on some of the tender points and they didn't hurt me at all.  She also mentioned the positive ANA and autoimmune test results in my file, and said that Lupus could still be a possibility.  The only way to really find out is to eliminate the Lyme and then see what issues I'm left with.  I've seen improvement in some areas, but not in others.  Although it can take time to see full improvement, even many months after treatment ends, it's possible that not everything is related to Lyme.

I've read a lot about people being diagnosed with Lyme and MS before finding out that what they really had was Lyme.  I pretty much figured that the diagnosis of Lyme disease explained away the other crazy test results that I've had.  Not that I'm worried too much right now, but it would be nice to know everything that I have to deal with.  Does Lyme lead to Lupus?  Or could it be a coincidence if someone has both?  Which came first?  Only time will tell.